Snow-removing machine



1927. Jan 25 E. H. LICHTENBERG SNOW REMOVING MACHINE Filed April 5; 1924 '5 Sheets-Sheet l G R E B N E T H m L H E Jan. 25 1927.

SNOW REMOVING MACHINE Filed April 5 192 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 5h. ucnfot- Z/ZZz'ckZenbezy afknnclya,

1927. Jan 25 E., H. LICHTENBERG SNOW REMOVING MACHINE Filed April 3, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 I! nucufoz ZflLz'ckZenbery v (tron-mu Patented Jan. 25 1927.

UNITED STATES 1,615,461 PATENT OFFICE.

. EB IGH H. LIGHTENBERG, F MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN.

SNOW-REMOVING MACHINE.

Application filed April 3,

. ing up roads today is the use of the V-shaped plows mounted in advance of traction machines. This method of snow removal has been found to be impracticable in districts t ll where heavy snows take place, the efiiciency of the V-shaped plow being limited largely to comparatively shallow snow depths. Even with the shallow snow depths the V-shaped type plow remover is difiicult to maintain in a fixed line of travel because variationin the resistance to the advance of the plow, due to variation in the depth of the snow in front of the same, tends to shift the plow from its proper line of travel.

There has been also proposed a type of rotary plow for road snow removal purposes, somewhat analogous to the well known snow plows employed in railroad track opening under heavysnow conditions. So far as am aware, however, the rotary type of plow has not been perfected to the point of effective utility.

The particular object of the present in,- vention has been to develop a novel construction of snow removing machine designed to overcome the difliculties at resent experienced with the V-shaped p ow remover,

and especially to improve upon the rotary plow type of machine which, of-course, pro vides a circular cut through the snow.

An essential feature of my present desi of snow removing machine is involved in ti: equipment employed for cutting away and removing the snow by a out having shar vertical side angles with respect to the roa surface, such out being made for a two-fold purpose. In the first lace, the sharp side angled cut is desirabl e and really required in order to eliminate the accumulation of snow at the opposite sides of a out such as will be made by an ordinary rotary plow. Secondarily, the peculiar out which is made by the machine of my invention, is designed to remove snow in advance of the traction means of the machine, which traction means will comprise preferably caterpillars or endless traction devices by which the main power plant and various parts of my machine are 1924. Serial No. 704,051.

supported and advanced to work. Neces sarily, the removal of snow in advance of these traction devices provides for greater effective traction of the same in respect to the road surface over which the operate.

An essential feature of possibly greater lmportance in the carrying out of my invention is the utilization of vertical cutters or snow excavators disposed at opposite sides of the machine and operated in advance of the endless traction members for the purpose previously described, but for-the additional purpose of cutting away and moving the snow to a point centrally in advance of the machine. In the rear of these vertical cutters or excavators operates a rotary remover or preclpitator which elevates and preci itates laterally some distance beside the side of a machine the snow which is carried thereto .by the vertical cutters or excavators as well as the snow which is in the path of said rotary remover or precipitator.

I-contemplate special provisions whereby a carry-off conduit or spout is located above the rotary preci itator and has a discharge through which t e snow is'precipitated and conveyed to one side of the road or out being made by the machine, and beyond a point vertically alined with the outer side of the cut as made by the outermost operating vertical cutter, or excavator previously mentioned.

By carrying off the snow considerably beyond one side of the cut made by the machine in this manner, the liability of caving in of the side banks sharply cut by the outermost excavator or cutter, is rendered unlikely, and furthermore the liability of early back-fill by drifting snows is reduced materially.

My vertical cutters or excavators operating at opposite sides and in advance of the rotary precipitator are essentially advantageous furthermore in order to break u the snow preliminary to carrying it in a vance of the intermediate carry-off remover or precipitator and the blades of the said vertical cutters may be so pitched as to tend to flake the snow in the cutting action of these devices reducing therefore the amount of work to be (performed by the precipitator and correspon ingly reducing the amount of power required to maintain the advance of the machine over the road. I

My final object in the development of my particular des1gn of snow removing machine is to maintain a relative simplicity of construction in that I use as few-main operating devices as possible, drive them by substantial and simple driving connections, and dispose them so that by virtue of the relative arrangement and action of the snow cutting and removing elements there is practically no tendency of the machine to shift from a fixed course of movement, directionally speaking, thereby avoiding the disadvantages of the tendencies of most machines of this type to be shifted from theirproper course of travel, with reduced efliciency of operation for obvious reasons.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated a preferred'embodiment of my invention which, however, I do not desire to limit to the particular constructionhereinafter described because material detailed modifications of the exact formation of the parts, especially the cutting elements, and their arrangements, might well be made within the purview of the invention for the accomplishment of the desired results.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a front elevation of a snow removing machine embodying my invention in a preferred form.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the snow removing apparatus.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the same showing more fully, but somewhat diagrammatically, the type of traction mechanism by which the snow removing apparatus is advanced to its work.

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view of my machine as arranged in a snow cut in practical operation. 7

Figure 5 is another diagrammatic view of a road cleared of snow by my machine, bringing out more clearly the method of piling of removed snow at opposite sides.

Figure 6 is a top plan view, partly in section, showing amodified form of*driving means for the vertical cutters to drive the same oppositely.

Figure 7 is a view in elevation", partly in section, of thedriving means of Figure 6.

Describing the-invention specifically 1n conjunction with the drawings, the frame of my machine is generally designated at A being of sturdy construction and supported by means of caterpillars or endless traction devices B. On the body frame A of the machine is carried a power plant C preferably consisting of a high power explosive engine or any equivalent motor, the same embodying a main driving shaft D. At the front end of the driving shaft D is fixed for rotation therewith a high speed rotary remover -and precipitator 1, comprising a number of blades so set as to have the dual function of cutting into snow in advance of the machine and'elevating and precipitating the snow operated on thereby to carry the latter upwardly and laterally into the spout or conduit 2. The remover and precipitator 1 1s, of course, mounted in a casing 3, which largely houses the same, and on thiscasing is mounted the spout 2, previously mentioned, by means of a sort of turntable com prising superposed ring plates 4 and 5.

The plate 5 is stationary on the casing 3 and the plate 4 rotates on the plate 5 to enable the spout 2 to sw'ng from one side of the machine to a position at the other side. The said plates 4 and 5 may be swivelly connected by any suitable means and interposed therebetween will be anti-friction bearings not shown, and suitable locking contrivances will be employed to hold the spout 2 in either of its positions projecting laterally from the opposite sides of the machine.

With a spout 2, such as above described, extending laterally beyond the sides of my entire machine, snow removed by the machine may be precipitated laterally therefrom so as to be carried beyond the vertical walls created by the cutting action of my machine in a manner to, be hereinafter described. The adjustment ofthe spout 2 will always be such that the snow is delivered by the machine to the outer side of the road which is being operated upon when the machine is working to remove the snow on half of the road at a single cut. I For larger roads my machine will preferably be designed to be of a width about half that of the road. When used on a road of about the same width as the machine, it will be immaterial which side the spout 2 is adjusted to deliver to, excepting that it will be preferably directed toward theside from which drifting snow would be unlikely to be carried back to the road. I

In a vertical plane somewhat in advance of the vertical plane in which-the rotary remover or precipitator 1 operates, and at opposite sides of the machine in advance of the path of movement of the traction base B, I provide the vertical rotary cutters or excavators 6; These excavators 6 may be of any general efficient construction, the bodies of the excavators carrying somewhat spirally arranged vertically staggered cutting blades 7. Ther disposal of the blades 7 is such that as the cutters 6 are operated by rotation in directions toward one another, the blades 7 will cut the snow and tend to leave it in broken up or flaked condition as it is carried thereby to and in front of the rotary remover andprecipitator 1.

If desired, thecutter 6 may be made in sections, and for deeper drifts an additional section or more, dependent upon the size of each section, may bev superposed upon the sections of the cutters already carried by the axes or vertical driving shafts 8, by which the cutters are supported in positions relative to the member 1. g

The driving shafts Swillpreferably be ceptible of slight lifting said shafts 9 are connected by bevel ered to the traction members driven b horizontal shafts 9 leading forwardly rom the main shaft D and inclining outwardly towards opposite sides of the machine as viewed from above. driving gearing comprising bevel gears 10 and 11, connect the rear ends of the shaft 9 with the main shaft D and the front ends of cars 11 and 12 with the shafts 8. To enab e an additional section or sections of the cutter 6 to be used, the frame members supporting the upper ends of the shafts 8 may be susaction to permit the emplacement of additional sections of the cutters 6 in the manner above set forth.

The operation of my machine will be obvious from th foregoing. The machine is simply advanced under proper power deliv- B from the power plant C. Suitable clutch devices are installed to establish driving connections between the shaft D and the rotary remover and precipitator 1, and similar connections may be provided intermediate the shafts 9 and the cutters 6 if desired. As such clutch features are well known in the art, they are not illustrated and any suitable type ofthe same may be employed.

Necessarily with a machine of the type above proposed, as the machine progresses forwardly the cutters 6 out clean, vertical side cuts in the snow in advance of the machine. The snow operated on by the cutters 6 is carried inwardly and upwardly between the same and delivered to the rotary device 1. The device 1 operates upon all snow in advance thereof and delivered thereto by the cutters 6 which act as deflectors to some extent, and the snow is elevated and precipitated laterally through the spout or conduit 2 by the device 1. As the snow is cleared away by the means of the invention, in advance of the traction devices B, the said traction members-B are not interfered with as regards their tractive effort by snow banking in front of the same.

Figure 4 of'the drawings illustrates in a roug diagrammaticalway my machine arranged on a road with the snow cut away and being delivered by amachine, in accordance with the invention. The manner in which the snow, was banked at the sides of the cut is therein depicted. It is obvious, of course, that the cutters 6ymight be arranged at sli ht vertical angles within the urview of t e invention, the main intent eing, however, that they shall be substantially vertical to conform with the re uireinents of my invention. In eflect I 0 min from my arrangement of the parts 1 and 6 a c mplete and effective cutting mechanism 'erti e v across the road space over which the machine directly operates.

The remover 1 must of .course be reversed in order to reverse the direction of throw,

Suitable one instrument by which it may precipitation or impelling of snow fed thereto and struck thereby. For this purpose I provide a conventional form of clutch which is generally shown at H and which includes a clutch element that may be thrown in one direction to clutch in the shaft D-direct. If moved in the opposite direction it will clutch in the shaft D indirectly through the beveled pinions thereby causing a reversal of the impeller 1. i

In Figure 5 I have shown more clearly the method by which the snow is piled at opposite sides of the road when operated why my machine, the manner in which back felling by drifting snows is prevented, being emphasized.

Figures 6 and 7 include a simple modified embodiment of driving mechanism for the vertical cutters 7. The cutters 7 mounted on the vertical shafts 8 having the gears a meshing with like gears b on a transverse driven shaft c. The shaft 0 is operated by the gearing de connecting it with the main drive shaft D. Preferabl the shaft 0 and gears a, b, d, e are inclose by a housing and run 111 oil because the cuttersv 7 must be driven at high speed. This drive is quite simple and effective and oflers certain advantages as compared with the drive means previously described, especially as the rotator or remover 1 is carried directly by the shaft D. The blades of the cutters 7" may be saw tooth edged if desired and of single spiral fin formation.

Practically speaking I have evolved a new method of snow removal, and my machine is This method is to cut the snow into small flaky particles, as by the means 7 or 7; feeding it to the remover or impeller at one side of the cutting means if one is used, or between them when two are used; and throwing the snow laterall from the machine by theremover. I wisi therefore that it be understood that my invention includes both the machine construction and the novel method of snow removal mentioned.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. Snow removing apparatus of the class described, comprising a vehicular support, a rotary impeller at the front of said support, a lateral cutter member disposed at each side and in advance ofsaid impeller, said lateral cutters being spaced apart a sufficient distance to permit operation of the impeller and cutters in independent adjacent paths, the lateral cutters being formed to operate in a path substantially overlapping are j e practiced.

the path of the impeller whereby to redescribed, comprising a vehicular support, a rotary impeller at the front of said support, a lateral cutter member disposed at each side and in advance of said impeller, said lateral cutters being spaced apart a suflicient distance to permit operation of the impeller and'outters in independent adjacent paths, the lateral cutters having undercutting blades adjacent the ground operative upon the snow lying between vertical planes passing through the periphery of the impeller.

3. Snow removing apparatus of the class described, comprising a vehicular support, a rotary impeller at the front of said support, a lateral cutter member disposed at each side and in advance of said impeller, said lateral cutters being spaced apart a sufficient distance to permit operation of the impeller and cutters in independent adjacent paths, the lateral cutters being formed to operate in a path substantially overlapping the path of the impeller whereby to remove that portion of the snow adjacent the ground lying without the radius of the impeller, and

a scoop disposed between the impeller an d said lateral cutters being spaced apart a sufficient distance to permit operation of the impeller and cutters in independent adjacent paths, the lateral cutters being formed to operate in a path substantially overlapping thepath of the impeller whereby to remove that portion of the snow adjacent the ground lying without the radius of the impeller, a casing for the said rotary impeller open at its front end providing a scoop arran ed between the cutting members and extending in advance of the impeller so as to direct snow which is not removed by the impeller and cutting members into the casing of the impeller for operation thereon by the impeller.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

ERICH H. LIGHTENBERG. 

